University of Washington has reputable premed program OPINIONS WANTED

[sanantone]

A thing to keep in mind about low acceptance rates is that schools are weeding out the poor test takers and only admitting highly intelligent students who are good test takers. Therefore, their students are destined to do well on the MCAT regardless. It probably doesn't have much to do with how well the classes are taught.

[cookderosa]

The catch with the postbac premed programs is that they are EXPENSIVE, and they also have huge opportunity cost in terms of time. You should be going to med school as soon as you finish your bachelor's. Don't waste time with grad school, especially when each year of delay costs you $200k+ with a doctor's salary.

A better plan is to get a bachelor's at the Big 3 and take all of your LL science courses butt-in-seat at the local community college. Skip the CLEP/DSST/AP when it involves a science class. If you think it will help, take a UL science course or two as a non-degree student at the local 4-year state university butt-in-seat.

+1 all day. Perfect advice.

[dfrecore]

My husband's cousins both got BA's in Computer Science, went into the military, came out, and went back to college to get their premed sequence. One took the CLEP tests for both Chem & Bio, but took the labs butt-in-seat. I think they both worked really hard on their premeds and studied a LOT during that time. I know the one that did his CLEP's studied REALLY hard for them - I think he might have had it easier if he'd just taken the classes, to be honest, but he was moving quite a bit and couldn't find the time to do an actual course.

One went to med school and is already a doc. The other just got accepted to med school. So there is life after taking science CLEP's.

[cookderosa]

My husband's cousins both got BA's in Computer Science, went into the military, came out, and went back to college to get their premed sequence. One took the CLEP tests for both Chem & Bio, but took the labs butt-in-seat. I think they both worked really hard on their premeds and studied a LOT during that time. I know the one that did his CLEP's studied REALLY hard for them - I think he might have had it easier if he'd just taken the classes, to be honest, but he was moving quite a bit and couldn't find the time to do an actual course.

One went to med school and is already a doc. The other just got accepted to med school. So there is life after taking science CLEP's.

I don't think you and I ever really disagree, but I'll have to disagree on this one. There are only a couple of med schools that don't require graded science credits- and anyone aiming for an MD program needs a wide net. I can't imagine science CLEPs being a first choice in this scenario. OTOH, your hub's cousins are killing it- their plan to use computer science undergrad (smart!) and GI bill for premed/med school (free) is brilliant.

[TrailRunr]

Thank you trailrunr; but, please give me a source making clear that GPA is more important than MCAT scores: isn't the mcat the top goal??

If you don't believe me, fine. At least go over to SDN pre-med forums. This is a test out forum for quick BA degrees despite the URL in your browser right now. You will find a lot of info at SDN on everything to do with pre-med and afterwards.

But one thing though - if you do badly on MCAT, you can pay for a prep course and get better. If you get a couple of B- C+ C grades in bio and chem, you're going to a postbac costing you lots of time and money, or you're delivering pizza. Bio is a weeder for some. Chem for others. Many good students failed orgo and killed their med school dreams. Fixing a bad GPA is a lot more expensive than fixing a bad MCAT. An A (4.0) and a C(2.0) makes 3.0, which is not going to be enough for med school. You will need 3 As to match the C to get a 3.5 GPA that's competitive for med school. Furthermore, only bio/chem/physics/math courses count. So you can't take a Mickey Mouse music appreciation class to make up for it.

[TrailRunr]

One went to med school and is already a doc. The other just got accepted to med school. So there is life after taking science CLEP's.

Just to be 100% clear, both went to US schools (NOT Caribbean) right?

[dfrecore]

I don't think you and I ever really disagree, but I'll have to disagree on this one. There are only a couple of med schools that don't require graded science credits- and anyone aiming for an MD program needs a wide net. I can't imagine science CLEPs being a first choice in this scenario. OTOH, your hub's cousins are killing it- their plan to use computer science undergrad (smart!) and GI bill for premed/med school (free) is brilliant.

Hmmm...well, I think both of them paid/are paying their way through Med school. At least the first one did, I know for certain.

For the younger one, I'm not sure if the CLEP's were his first choice, but like I said, he did take them. Maybe the school said he could? Maybe his military record was appealing to them and they waived the course? Maybe he ended up taking higher level chem and bio courses when he got to school to do his pre-reqs? Who knows? All i know is he got accepted to med school last fall.

[dfrecore]

Just to be 100% clear, both went to US schools (NOT Caribbean) right?

Yes, either Univ of Alabama or Mississippi, I can't remember. The older one was Chief Resident of Psychiatry at Duke last year, so I'm pretty sure he's doing ok. The younger one is following in his footsteps.

[bluebooger]

I just don't see how CLEP is possible --- (maybe your husband's cousins did it back in the olden days and the requirements were more lenient)

https://www.uab.edu/medicine/home/future...sideration

* Applicants awarded AP or CLEP credit for biology are expected to complete 8 hours of additional advanced biology coursework.
* Online biology courses are not accepted.
* Community College biology courses are accepted.


* Applicants awarded AP or CLEP credit for chemistry are expected to complete a college chemistry course sequence that includes Biochemistry.
* Online Organic and General Chemistry courses are not accepted.
* Community College Chemistry courses are not recommended.

https://www.umc.edu/som_admissions_criteria/

* All required courses must have a college grade; therefore, advanced placement credit cannot meet these requirements.

[dfrecore]

I just don't see how CLEP is possible --- (maybe your husband's cousins did it back in the olden days and the requirements were more lenient)

https://www.uab.edu/medicine/home/future...sideration

* Applicants awarded AP or CLEP credit for biology are expected to complete 8 hours of additional advanced biology coursework.
* Online biology courses are not accepted.
* Community College biology courses are accepted.


* Applicants awarded AP or CLEP credit for chemistry are expected to complete a college chemistry course sequence that includes Biochemistry.
* Online Organic and General Chemistry courses are not accepted.
* Community College Chemistry courses are not recommended.

https://www.umc.edu/som_admissions_criteria/

* All required courses must have a college grade; therefore, advanced placement credit cannot meet these requirements.

Hmmm...he just got accepted to med school this past fall, so I don't think I'd consider that the olden days. But maybe he went on to do additional coursework that replaced the Chem & Bio CLEP exams, or did higher level work, I just don't know.